Illuminated license plate holder



0d. 13, 1936. D L, RIOUX 2,057,249

ILLUMINATED -LlGENSE PLATE HOLDER Filed July 18, 1934 Patented ocr. 13,1936 f `IL'LUlvmIAililnLrCENsE PLATE HoLnER` v Demcy L. Rioux, Green i i.Y Application Juiyis, 1934, sei-mino. 7353er `My invention relatesrto alicensefplate holder and Vmore particularly Ato` an enclosed ltype' foflicense plate holder that can be illuminated to further.permitwidentifcation of thel license number in thedark. .i

object Vof theinvention" is` to,` provide a device 1 ofthe telescopictype that Will display and encase the license plate, whilefprot'ectingit from all elementsas well as to guard itv against removalWithouttheownersfconsent.

- Another'objectof the'invention is to provide Y acontainen'tolencase-the license plate and permitx'its being-sealedsby the authoritiesthereby prohibiting the use of 1 the' license Y plateon'anotherlvehiclej` ,if l H @i Still anotheriobject of the invention.isto prof-1` vide-,a protective holder'lfor any type of license plateeither. with' perforatedv digits having-:the lightand reflector behind.it `or A a printed` 4lltlil Withthe light-reflected against fits face.i

With theabove and other objectswhchmwill be' .apparent as Athe detaileddescription proceeds my invention consists of the. following new andnovel features iully` described,- Vrliistrlatd, arid pointedncutl in theappended claimsg. "In the accompanying drawing; V 4 Fig. lY showsa'perspectiveviewiof `the device.

Fig.2 shows ac fragmentary crosssectional viewof the deviceincorporating a plurality of lights, and

Fig. 3 shows a fragmentary cross sectional view of a modifiedconstruction using a single light for both compartments.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like characters of referencedenote corresponding parts, the embodiments of the invention are eachgenerally comprised in a casing formed to provide an outer removablepart I and an inner xed partV II which is carried by an attachingbracket I2 and adaptedto be substantially enclosed by the outer partwhen in assembly.

The inner casing part II is formed of a vertical Wall IIa, a bottomhorizontal wall IIb, and an intermediate horizontal partition Wall I8;the walls IIb and I8 being on `the side of the wall IIa opposite itspoint of support from the bracket I2. e Y

The outer casing'part ID is made up Aof a substantially rectangularportion to engage over and enclose the inner casing part II, and has avertical front wallla which abuts the opposed edges of the horizontalwalls IIb and I8 of .the inner casing part when in place, thus formingtwo compartments I9 and 20 Within the completed casing. The Verticalwall Illa is provided with Atwo apertures, one, as alty I3,`y openinginto the upper'compartment I9, and the other, as

atr'lllinto the lower compartment i270. Y `The louter casing part I-EIhas a bottom wall 10b, preferably of "as greater-thickness than theother of its walls, to closely'underlie the bottom horizontalwall IIb ofthe innerl casing part II andit is provided with'a lockl I5, Vpreferablyof a key operated type, which has a bolt IlV toenter a slotted openingI'Ifin the bottom Wall IIbV to securethe outer casing partin placeon theinner` casing part,'so that'un'authorized access may 4not be hadto theinterior of the casing once it hasv been installed for use,

In-the formof the device as Vshown in'Figure .V

g, the upper aperture I3 "is closed-by a transparentstop-[sigrialplate'Z'I and there-'lower aperture `I Il by" a `license plate 2id*which-ispreferably formed with digit cutouts er perforations and backed`by a-ftransparent material`28,Y suchas Celluloid or the like. Thismaterial 28 -may be madplain, "or of'any colorlifn contrast 'to theouter vfac'aeofV vthe license plate 2'Ioto'accord withlegalrequirenrientaY -V y Y i 'Mountedon the "vertical-"walll Ia`withinthe compartments= Pandl "V of thisz form of the device are lamp bulbs-23 and 2 2 respectively 'and these Y are 'to Vbe` illuminated -`asrequired' from the usuali"current source of 'amotor' vvehicle equippedwith the signal plate holder. A relector 2I is positioned Within thecompartment 2D, in angular relation to the lamp bulb 22, to direct lightonto the rear side of the transparency 28 and outwardly through thecutouts or perforations of the license plate 21a.

Also, in this form of the invention, the license plate 21a is preferablysecured in place at the aperture I4 and to an adjacent portion of theinner casing part II, as for instance, to the partition Wall I8, bymeans of a seal or the like 29, to prevent its unauthorized removal ortheft.

As shown in Figure 3, the holder is modified for the display of animperforate type of license plate 21h and, here, but a single lamp bulb25 V is employed on the vertical wall I Ia of the inner casing part II,anda reflector 26 is substituted for the partition wall I8 (Figure 2) todivide' the interior of the casing part II into the two com- 28a; asuitable fastening means 29a, such as the seal shown, being employed tosecure the license plate in proper position and against unauthorizedremoval or theft. The reflector 26 is preferably apertured at a properpoint, with respect to the lamp bulb 25, that a portion of the lightwill pass therethrough and illuminate the stop signal plate 21. Also,the reflector is angularly arranged with respect to the stop signalplate 21 and the license plate 21b thatboth of .the saine will be fullyilluminated by the one light source and suiiiciently so as to be readilyvisible through the apertures I3 and I4 from a point remote from therear of the vehicle holder is installed. ,l

In the use of the combined st opmsignal `and license plate holder shownin Figure 2; the lamp 23 is to be controlled from aswitchnotshown') tobe operated in a usual manner from the brake pedal on the vehicle, whilethe lamp 22- will-be independently controlled as desired from a switch(not shown) on the vehicle dash. However, in the 'form' of the device asin Figure 3, the lamp 25 is preferably of an ordinary dimmer type and iscontrolled from the vehicle dash to normally illuminate the signalplate21 and the license plate 21b at itsA lower light intensity, and from thebrake pedal switch (not shown) to illuminate the plates 21 and 21h atits higher light intensity whenever. the brakes of the vehicleareapplied. A y

The drawing illustrates only two methods of mechanical construction butthe right is reserved to make such-minor changes as may be desired but nstill keeping within the scope of the appended claims.

. Having thusdescribed my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent intheUnited States, is: Y

l. A license plate holder, comprising an inner casing part having avertical wall and an angled bottom wallvand an outer casing part toengage over and enclose the inner casing part, the outer casing parthaving a front Wall provided with an aperture for exposure jtherethrough i of av license plate carried by the inner casing part, alight source carried by the verticalrwall of the inner casing part, areflector within the inner casing part and angularly arranged withrespect to the upon which the light source to direct light upon thelicense plate, a lock carried by the bottom wall of the outer casingpart and having a movable bolt adapted to engage an opening in thebottom Wall of the inner casing part, and means carried by the innercasing part for attaching it to a. vehicle.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the license plate isformed with digit cutouts andthe light source and reflector are disposedbehind the same for the emission of light outwardly of the cutouts, anda transparency is positioned between the license plate and the lightsource, the transparency being of a given colorto `contrast with that ofthe exposed face of the license in accordance with legal requirementsl Y5.3. 'The deviceas'set forth in claim 1, wherein thev inner Aeasing parthas its vertical wall pro- Avided'witli an angled partition Wall inspaced relation to* and above its bottom wall to 'form upper andYlowercompartments-and the license plate:land':the light source thereforis housed within one of` the compartments, while a stop signal plate anda. separate light source therefor is housed-within' theother'of thecompartments, and thefront wall of the outer casing part is providedwith-a second aperture for exposure therethrough of the stop signalplate.

4. The device asset forth in claim 1, wherein the'outer, casing part isprovided with an extended portion topartially enclose the said attachingmeans lof the inn'er casing part for its protection from the elements.

5. The device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the'reflectoris spacedabove the bottom wall ofthe innercasing part to form compartments abovefand-below the same and the license plate and the light? source islocated in one of the compartments, the front wall of the outer casingpart is provided with a second aperture to ex- PQSllhQrethrough a stopsignal vplate positioned within the other'of .the compartments, and thereflector is provided with an opening to pass a portion of thelightfromthe light source into thev other compartment for the illumination Vofthe stop signal plate. x

l lDEMCY L. RIOUX.

